MOUNT DEFIANCE

NEW YORK

Mount Defiance is open during the day from spring
to fall. There is a pavilion on the top with picnic tables and many historical
markers.

The road to the top is the road that was cut by
the British when they observed on July 2, 1777 that the American positions at
Fort Ticonderoga and Mount Independence might be vulnerable from this
mountaintop. On July 4th, the American forces began to panic when they saw the
cannons being moved up the mountain. The retreat began in darkness on the
evening of July 5th.

In September of 1777, it was America’s turn to
put cannons on top of this mountain. Under the leadership of Colonel John Brown,
cannons were placed and fired, however, the British forces did not panic,
retreat or surrender. Actually, Brown found that fort was not an easy target
from the mountain. The attempt to bombard Fort Ticonderoga from Mount Defiance
was not successful and the British held the fort until the end of the war.

The Fort Ticonderoga peninsula reaches east towards Mount Independence
on the Vermont shore to form a choke point. Here, two waterways from the
south converge, flowing north to the Saint Lawrence River. Whoever
controlled this passage controlled travel between New York and Nouvelle
France (Canada).

American troops connected the two fortified
positions the winter of 1776-1777. East Creek, on the far side of Mount
Independence, protected retreating American troops from a flanking German
attack in July of 1777, allowing them to regroup and fight again at
Hubbardton and Bennington.

Enroute to Skenesboro (Today's Whitehall, NY)

LaChute River Marker.

LaChute River

Town of Ticonderoga

French military engineers chose this strategic spot to build Fort
Carillon to protect French Canada from the British because two water
transportation routes from the south met here where the waters of Lake
George meet those of Lake Champlain. The Mount Independence peninsula in
Vermont nearly touches Ticonderoga point on the New York side. In the 19th
Century, the LaChute River powered dozens of industries as its water fell
230 feet over a two mile course. Today a nature trail and scenic park
provide access to the river. An extensive marsh behind the railroad
causeway attracts many species of migratory birds in the Spring and Fall.